In early July, Arrington told the New York Times' Claire Cain Miller that he would hold an event at the end of July or beginning of August "to make a big announcement about the CrunchPad," and that the gadget "would be for sale 'as soon as possible'."

That never happened.

We thought that Arrington might have been waiting to unveil the CrunchPad at his TechCrunch50 conference, which took place in California last week. But as far as we could tell, nothing.

Or perhaps he was waiting until the commotion around TechCrunch50 went away, and now it's his next project? (Arrington did not reply to a request for comment.)

Hardware projects often take longer than anticipated, so we wouldn't be surprised by any delay. But if the CrunchPad is going to hit stores in time for Christmas -- before Apple's reported tablet, which probably won't ship until next year -- the clock is ticking.